The diminishing weight of the SAT

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Published: Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 02:47 PM.

Let’s be clear: The SAT and ACT do have a useful role in college admissions. They are valid predictors of success, along with other factors, and can be especially helpful in detecting bright students whose grades don’t reflect their potential. Conversely, though, many great students score poorly on standardized tests, especially if they lack the financial means for extensive test-prep courses and tutors.

Admission to college has escalated into an arms race, with too many families relying on rankings that might not give them meaningful information about particular schools, and spending whatever it takes to give their children an advantage. In this scenario, entrance exams had been given disproportionate influence. We’re glad to see a movement toward a system that, without sacrificing high standards, brings flexibility into the college admissions process.

The granddaddy of all standardized tests — the venerable SAT — has taken its lumps in recent years. Once the standard for college admission across the land and a longtime measuring stick of college prep education in U.S. high schools, now comes word that universities are de-emphasizing the SAT.

That’s right, de-emphasizing.

Some might say it’s merely coincidental that institutions of higher learning are making this move at a time when SAT scores are at a 40-year low, especially in the reading category. In fact, the decline over the decades has been significant. For example, the average reading (verbal) score is down 34 points since 1972. And in North Carolina, scores continued to decline according to figures for 2012. AlamanceCounty and state students still trail their counterparts nationally.

So maybe de-emphasizing the SAT may be a good thing.

The original intent of the SAT (which used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Test but now is the official name of the exam) was to give talented students a crack at admission to top universities by showing their inherent smarts even if they’d never had the advantages of attending a prestigious Eastern prep school. Over the years, though, it has become a thriving industry. The test’s owner, the College Board, also puts out the PSAT, or preliminary SAT, and recently started up a pre-pre-SAT for middle school, as well as selling an SAT study guide and online course for a combined price of $89.99. Other companies have raised the ante by offering prep courses for the SAT and its increasingly popular rival, the ACT, that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Clearly, the college entrance exams created for middle-class and impoverished students give the edge to affluent teenagers. At the same time, studies have found that those tests aren’t stronger predictors of a student’s success in college than grades, class rank or a record of rigorous courses. For this reason and others, an increasing number of colleges have made the SAT an optional part of the application process.

Most of them will consider SAT or ACT scores if an applicant sends them, but don’t require them. Some allow students to pick from a menu of information they would like to submit, including scores on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests. WakeForest is among the schools with more flexible admissions policies, according to FairTest, a nonprofit organization that opposes what it sees as overuse of standardized tests.

Let’s be clear: The SAT and ACT do have a useful role in college admissions. They are valid predictors of success, along with other factors, and can be especially helpful in detecting bright students whose grades don’t reflect their potential. Conversely, though, many great students score poorly on standardized tests, especially if they lack the financial means for extensive test-prep courses and tutors.

Admission to college has escalated into an arms race, with too many families relying on rankings that might not give them meaningful information about particular schools, and spending whatever it takes to give their children an advantage. In this scenario, entrance exams had been given disproportionate influence. We’re glad to see a movement toward a system that, without sacrificing high standards, brings flexibility into the college admissions process.